THEODOROS RAFTOPOULOS

SOLO EXHIBITION, 2001

17.01 - 17.03.2001

Since the Germinations X Biennale (1998-99),
Raftopoulos's sensual and instinctive pictures based on symmetric
or kaleidoscopic arrangements showed his compositional skill and
asserted Manipulation as the basis of his work.

The artist uses the body (often his own) as a playground, pulling
bits of its inside to the surface, mixing it with various
substances, turning its fragments into balanced compositions.

For his second solo show at Unlimited Contemporary Art,
Raftopoulos develops this basic principle of manipulation towards
another dimension, more related to space and time.

This new step in Raftopoulos's work is influenced by the recent
use of video and digital pictures: he re-arranges components
(established as a kind of vocabulary) and pictures (digital prints,
photos, drawings, lightscreens), that reoccur in different
combinations and installations.

The whole body of work becomes the set of hybrid situations,
questionning relations such as physical and mental, intimacy and
history, inside and outside, energy and desire...

In this context of permanent evolution, the recurrent and
essential green element operates as a link between human,
animal & plant, playing with its natural/artificial quality,
sometimes recovering the body, sometimes acting as an abstract
background.